Day 3 Post-Op

After 8 hours of deep sleep, I woke to a phone call from the nurse at 8:15 am. 

That gave me a chance to ask my questions about the surgical vest.  The answers were:

• Continue to wear it 24/7 until your post-op check-up.
• No reason for it to have been put on inside out (must have been a mistake).

I stayed in bed another hour, just wanting to sleep more, but finally got up and had an active morning walking around the block with the dogs and watering all my flowers and newly transplanted vegetables.

The underarm incision still hurts, but ice packs help.  

I drove Roz to Starbucks at 1 pm and then went back to bed, exhausted.

At 4 pm I visited my neighbor Lani, who is a veteran of stage 1 breast cancer that occupied most of 2008 for her.  What a pleasure to compare notes with her and vent on all the little irritations of what was actually a very successful surgery!

She told me about the next step: radiation.  You're really tired and you need to start putting Aveeno cream on the area two weeks ahead so your skin won't dry out too much.  

Back to bed 7-8:30 pm... at this rate, I won't be driving to Colorado on Thursday.

My big question: am I a survivor yet?  When do I get the official designation: Breast Cancer Survivor?

Is it after surgery?  After radiation?  

I want a badge to wear, but maybe I haven't earned it yet.

Sleepy Day

I never got out of the house today, not even to check on my new vegetable garden.

I slept until nearly noon because I napped yesterday evening from 7 to 9 pm and then stayed up until the wee hours.  

At about 2 am I wondered why my right underarm hurt as much as the left one, where the lymph node had been removed.  Upon investigation I realized that the surgical vest has straps that can be lengthened.  They were still at the shortest position though I have a long torso.  I loosened them and felt a lot better on the right side.  

Yesterday was pain-free, but today my left underarm did ache as if it had been cut open, which it had.  Cold packs helped; pain pills did not seem warranted.  The small breast incision did not hurt.

I just wished the surgical vest had come with instructions: 

• Wear for the first 24 hours?  
• Wear 24/7 until my post-op appointment?  
• Wash, dry, and wear again if desired?

With the still-tight underarms it was a strait jacket, the most uncomfortable part of the WLE experience.   

Breakfast in bed at 1 pm was a treat--grits with cheese and bacon chunks from Ellen.  What a comfort food!

Reading every inch in the LAT and NYT about California Chrome at the Preakness was the best part of the day.

I spent a few hours at the computer, making a first post-op appearance on Facebook and in the EEWC-CFT community group as well as checking my email, that first duty of every 21st-century citizen.

Then I talked to my cousin Becky on the phone, slept a a few more hours, and took my first bath since Friday.

Becky was a bridesmaid at my wedding in 1972 and is also the survivor of thyroid cancer in her late 20s.  She's inspiring!